Communicating Across Cultures: Building a Start-Up's Global Presence

This thesis investigates how start-ups can successfully establish a global presence through careful consideration of cross-cultural communication, language adaptation, and storytelling. A theoretical framework is established by examining the defining characteristics of global brands, the cultural dimensions established by Hofstede, and the concept of acculturation. Building on this framework, the thesis explores strategies for communicating with an international audience internally and externally, including corporate language policies and the concepts of globalization, internationalization, localization, and translation. Finally, there is a comprehensive analysis of storytelling techniques to effectively convey brand identity across diverse cultural contexts. A case study is presented of Hekanize Inc., a SaaS start-up founded in the US and operating across several countries, including Italy. Qualitative interviews with Hekanize founders and employees provide a thoughtful context behind the real-world application of cross-cultural communication theories. The thesis concludes with key takeaways for start-ups with ambitions of global reach and recommendations for Hekanize to accelerate its global growth.